Friday, June 1, 2012

Synopsis 10: Alexander the Great- The man who created an Empire

                                                                                                                                                                                                 

This book by Dr. Lance Kurke tries to draw leadership lessons from the heroic exploits of Alexander. This book stresses on four most important leadership processes – Reframing a problem, building alliances, establishing identity and directing symbols. It describes various episodes from Alexander’s life and draws leadership lessons from each of the episodes. It also ties some modern day examples how firms and their leaders adopted some strategies similar to that of Alexander’s and achieved success.

It also describes four of the major battles fought by Alexander – Granicus, Issus, Gaugamela and Hydaspes. Some of the other notable episodes from Alexander’s life described in this book are – siege of Tyre where Alexander defeated the Persian Navy on land, undoing the 'Gordian' knot, crossing the 'Gedrosian' desert, his marriages with Stateria and Roxanne, taming a wild enormous horse which was named as 'Bucephala', etc. This book highlights how Alexander always led from the front, his dealings with the royal hostages, his treatment towards king Porous of India, managing a vast empire, his dealings with mutiny and his ability to motivate his troops even in dire conditions.

Overall this book is a nice package with some good leadership lessons.

Book Summary -
·         Title - Alexander the Great : Leadership lessons from the man who created an Empire
·         Author - Dr. Lance Kurke
·         Publisher - Jaico Publishing House
·         My Rating - 4/5